Pubdate: Sat, 22 Mar 2014
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/5NyOACet
Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531

MEDICAL POT PRODUCERS WIN LEGAL REPRIEVE

People who grow medical marijuana at home won a reprieve Friday, but
they still have to destroy most of their plants.

A Federal Court judge ruled anyone already licensed to grow the drug
may continue to do so beyond March 31, when new regulations governing
production were to take effect.

Judge Michael Manson issued an injunction exempting patients who are
licensed to possess or grow medical marijuana under the current rules,
either for themselves or someone else, from the new regulations that
would have made the practice illegal.

"I'm excited for patients - especially those who can't afford to buy
it," said Don Schultz, a Kelowna consultant who works with growers
applying for licences to build large, commercial operations in B.C.

"It's our constitutional right to have the medicine."

A group of patients behind a constitutional challenge asked for the
injunction to preserve the status quo until their legal case goes to
trial.

The plaintiffs argued the updated regulations violate their right to
access important medicine because marijuana is expected to be
initially more expensive under the new system. They also complained
they won't have as much control over which strains of the drug they
use.

The ruling caught many, including the Conservative government, by
surprise. Health Canada reports 841 people in Kelowna alone have
licences allowing them to grow enough pot at home for their own use.
Another 181 are licensed to grow enough marijuana for themselves and
up to four other people who prefer not to produce their own pot.

Hundreds likely tore out their plants after Health Canada declared
anyone growing their own as of April 1 would be breaking the law.

"I know a lot of people who have the old licences who have already cut
down their crops," said Schultz. "Now . . . they've been told they can
keep on growing."

Still, Friday's court decision affirms the limit for how much dried
marijuana a licensee can possess at 150 grams, the amount set by the
new regulations. A typical plant can produce more than twice that
volume, so having more than one plant could be illegal, Schultz said.

"They're still going to have to destroy quite a bit," Schultz said.
"You can't be growing 10 plants out there."

Health Canada predicted the price of medical marijuana to rise from $5
a gram to $8.80 a gram before enough commercial licensees produce the
amount needed to replace the home-grown supply.

Accordingly, patients will be "irreparably harmed" by the effects of
the new regulations, the judge wrote.

"I find that the nature of the irreparable harm that the applicants
will suffer under the (updated regulations) constitutes a 'clear
case,' which outweighs the public interest in wholly maintaining the
enacted regulations."

The injunction allows growers to sustain strains of pot that prove
more effective than others. B.C. has high standards compared to the
rest of the world, and other countries will want to buy B.C. bud, said
Schultz.
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